Nortex Times

There were 17 American Indian students enrolled in Clay County schools in the 2022-23 school year, the same number as in the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Data showed that Clay County welcomed 1,765 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, American Indian students comprised 1% of the student body to be the third least represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the seven schools in Clay County, only Henrietta Elementary School and Petrolia Elementary School enrolled any American Indian students, welcoming five students each in the 2022-23 school year.

Texas is found to be one of the least-educated states in the U.S. A study from WalletHub ranked Texas 41st out of 50 states in terms of the quality of the educational system and how successful students were.

Underfunding is a frequently cited challenge facing the state's school districts. Per-pupil funding has not increased since 2019, despite inflation rates rising by more than 20% since then.

“As a result, many districts in our very own Central Texas region are being forced to cut back on essential programs, services, consider school closures, and adopt deficit budgets just to provide students with the education that they deserve,” Hutto ISD Trustee James Matlock said.

School name	% of American Indian students enrolment	Total enrollment
Henrietta Elementary School	1	481
Henrietta High School	0.3	287
Petrolia Elementary School	1.9	267
Henrietta Middle School	0.9	226
Petrolia Junior High/High School	1	206
Bellevue School	1.2	167
Midway School	0	131